Cam phasers for internal combustion engines are well known. In a typical cam phaser a locking bolt that is adjustable in a controlled manner is arranged in a sliding manner in a bore hole in a rotor lobe of the cam phaser so that it facilitates locking a rotation of the rotor relative to a stator under certain operating conditions of the cam phaser and the motor. A known bolt locking mechanism includes a compression spring which clamps an end of the bolt in a typically hardened seat which is arranged in a pulley or in a chain sprocket of the cam phaser so that the rotor is interlocked with reference to the stator that is fixated at the pulley or the chain sprocket.
The rotor can be made for example from aluminum and a steel bushing is pressed into the bore hole at a particular axial position and inserted so that the bolt is supported.
A cam phaser is disclosed in the publication document DE 10 2010 060 263 A1 wherein the cam phaser includes a substantially hollow cylindrical bolt which receives a compression spring in a hollow cylindrical section. During assembly of the cam phaser a so called active adjustment is performed, wherein the stator or the stator housing is rotated relative to a locking disc that is engageable by the bolt so that a corresponding locking clearance is adjusted. The stator is then positioned by typically 4 to 5 bolts relative to the locking disc. For positioning the rotor during assembly the stator is provided as a stop for the rotor.
As a matter of principle a certain locking clearance has to be maintained between a bar of the stator and a wing of the rotor in a locking position. This locking clearance is necessary so that a binding of the locking bolt and the locking disc is excluded during locking and unlocking and the noise emission can be minimized.
However, there is a problem in that the locking clearance can be faulty due to a tolerance concatenation that is created during assembly of the cam phaser so that a binding of the locking bolt and the locking disc can occur during operation of the cam phaser.